The100: Presentation structure, innovation constraints and arm swinging

---

Recidivism in a Recession

As the whiff of recession continues to float through economies, Mark Ritson’s 9 steps marketers should take to avoid the dark times ahead are, in modern parlance, pretty flipping useful.

“The companies that maintained ad spend, or even increased it, during a recession saw little advantage during the hard months of the squeeze. But the minute the green shoots of growth appeared, their growth was spectacularly superior versus competitors that cut back during the recession. You maintain the long of it because its impact is delayed but substantial and it will kick in exactly when you need it as the recession ends.”

Read it and weep

When creating a presentation I’ll all of a sudden feel as sharp as a bowling ball. I never know where to start. Enter the absolute master: Marcus John Henry Brown. 

Marcus has kindly released his Speakery Presentation Canvas. Read it. Download it. Then use it for every presentation or talk you plan to give in the future. I’ve been weeping about how bad my prior efforts were ever since.

If you happen to be in London on May 4th, you can see if I’ve improved any. More on that in good time.*

Are you sitting uncomfortably? 

Adam Morgan gave a verrrrrry good interview on creativity coming from constraints. Often seen as a negative, constraints are actually a stimuli for innovation:

“If we put the constraints in conjunction with the big ambition, you get actually very productively uncomfortable […]  because those two things shouldn’t belong together so it forces the brain to interrogate your underlying assumptions about the relationships between those two things.”

I also liked Adam’s tip to use “can if” rather than “can’t because”.

“Honestly, get over yourself”

The IPA has released papers written by those who undertook and won awards in their Excellence Diploma in Brands. Emily Rich and her piece on why brands need to stop acting like Big-Gods was particularly good. Video here for those that prefer to watch.

Brands need to stop:

1. Dictating behaviours
2. Deciding what should be on the public agenda
3. Leading with lofty purpose
4. Preaching and acting holier-than-thou

And finally…

A list of Known Unknowns. That is, the things we know we don’t know. From arm swinging when walking to Goldbach’s conjecture. Nice to know we don’t know everything. And let’s not ask ChatGPT for once. 

Do you read The100 every time it comes out? 100%? How much effort do you put in at work? 100%? What are you prepared to give, effort wise, to your next workout? 110%? That and more arithmetic baloney in how 100% became the catchphrase of reality TV.